Read the winning piece of our 2025 Nonfiction Contest “Through the Mirror” by Jessie Cato selected by Lucy Ives.

Read

Spring 2001 • Vol. XXIII No. 2 Nonfiction |

Serendipity Is No Accident

Already have an account? Log in

Join KR for even more to read.

Sign up for a free account and read any five pieces a month.
Sign Up and Read for Free



Or become a subscriber today and get complete, immediate access to our digital archives at every subscription level.
Kenyon Review logo
Robert Friedel is a historian of technology who has taught at the University of Maryland since 1984. His books and articles on the processes of invention and discovery include studies of plastics, electric light and power, and the zipper.  A more general treatment of the history of technology was published as A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium (MIT Press, 2007).

Read More

Subscribe

Your free registration with The Kenyon Review includes access to exclusive content, early access to program registration, and more.

Donate

With your support, we’ll continue 
to cultivate talent and publish extraordinary literature from diverse voices around the world.